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Halo Fanon:Rules
Welcome to Halo Fanon, a home for all manner of Halo fanfiction stories, characters and universes. Being a wikia, we are a home to all users, but that does not mean we are without rules here. Please have a look at those rules and familiarize yourself with them as you begin writing with us. Rules and Regulations Quick Start set # Be kind and respectful # Assume the best when critiqued # Respect others' properties # Work in the wikia's style # Follow the Canon Policy # Listen to the admins # Be gracious and enjoy yourself Expanded Ruleset *'1) Be civil and respectful' to other users at all times. This one should be go without saying, but say it we must. Be warned that breaches of civility - ranging from flaming, constant arguing, lack of decency and respect for others, blatant disregard of administrative orders, and even blatant passive-aggressive sarcasm - will result in civility warnings and eventually bans. **'1.1) No extensive use of epithets' ― Mild usage may be permitted, as the Halo games are rated "M" for Mature (17+) (ESRB), but they should not be levied against other users. See the related 1.4 below. **'1.2) No arguments' ― Do not let things get out of hand. Any problems should be reported as soon as possible to . The administrators can take more immediate and concise action. **'1.3) Keep it clean' ― We ask that you please keep all amorous events at a strictly PG-13 level. Please refrain from writing a story that is purely sex for sexuality's sake (i.e. pornofic, lemon, etc) and remember that this site contains a wide range of users from different age groups, who may not be comfortable and/or mature enough to handle such a subject. If you have any questions about this particular rule, please direct them to the . **'1.4) No personal attacks' ― This means directly insulting someone with abusive language, whether on their talk page or on the talk page of an article that happens to be under discussion at the time. The users on this site are requested to act in a mature fashion, and resorting to childish and hurtful terms is out of line, warranting a Civility Warning. **'1.5) Pointing out problems ≠ Trolling' - Just because someone has said that your article has some grammatical or canon-related issues does not make them a troll. A Troll, according to Wikipedia, is "someone who posts inflammatory, extraneous, or off-topic messages in an online community, such as an online discussion forum, chat room, or blog, with the primary intent of provoking other users into a desired emotional response or of otherwise disrupting normal on-topic discussion." Trying to point out problems that you have repeatedly ignored is not trolling, so please refrain from stating such things. *'2) Assume good faith'; in other words, try to consider that the person on the other end of the discussion is a thinking, rational being who is trying to positively contribute to the project — unless, and only unless, you have firm, solid, and objective proof to the contrary. Merely disagreeing with you is no such proof. Particularly, don't revert good faith edits without a listed, logical reason for doing so. **'2.1) No editing other people's work without their explicit permission' ― Self-explanatory; you are not allowed to edit user's work without their explicit permission. You do, however, have the right to fix minor grammatical/spelling mistakes/canon errors in an article. However, if the author complains, the situation will be looked into. **'2.2) Decent edit summaries' and clear and transparent explanations are universally appreciated. It helps sometimes to understand why you're doing what you're doing, and if the summary is too long then gives us a talk page or user talk message. **'2.3) When in doubt, take it to the '. We have all the time in the world. As said before, civility and mutual respect is the guiding behavioral principle of Wikia and, although everyone knows that their writing may be edited mercilessly, it is easier to accept changes if the reasons for them are understood. If you discuss changes on the article's talk (or discussion) page before you make them, you should reach consensus faster and happier. *'3) No plagiarism is accepted at all' **'3.1) Respect the property of others'. If a creator requests a picture, article, character or anything else that belongs to them be removed, it will be taken down. **'3.2) You cannot use other people's work without their explicit permission' ― Related to original ownership, this means no using articles or the content within without permission from the author/creator. *'4) Remember the site's style': We have a certain way of handling categories, voting and messages, so please try to adhere to them. Occasional slip ups are okay, but it helps everyone the more we remember to dot our I's and cross our T's. **'4.1) Sign your posts on talk pages and user talk pages' using ~~~~, which gets replaced by your username and timestamp when you hit Save. But don't sign on mainspace articles. If you've got a Signature template, it's okay to use that as well, but please only use ~~~~ when official votes are involved. **'4.2) Use the writer's template for your articles'. It lets us know who it belongs to, solving a lot of problems ahead of time. **'4.3) Use the preview button'; it helps prevents edit conflicts and mistakes. **'4.4) Make sure your infoboxes belong'; usually they have an automatic category attached, which creates confusion when your Elite is filed as a SPARTAN-II because the article is using a Spartan infobox *'5) We have a strict canon-friendliness policy': This means that things have to be canon friendly or they'll be namespaced. What does canon-friendliness mean? Well, it's explained a little deeper in the canon policy section of this page, so give it a gander. **'5.1) Fanon must be Halo-related': This means no far-flung future adventures set in the 32nd century (or 2600's either) and no political pieces on World War Three. This is Halo fanon, after all: making a history and an ending is fine, but try to keep everything reasonably close to the 2500's when the Halo games are set. **'5.2) Humor articles must be in good form and clearly marked': While not the norm for our site, we've had a few in the past. These articles need to use the humor tag and remain tasteful, without crudeness or mocking of others. **'5.3) Crossovers are frowned on, generally': Most of them don't amount to anything, so we generally don't like to keep them around here. Feel free to plead your case with the admins if you so wish, but the final decision is in their hands. *'6) Alternate Universes are very limited': Much like crossovers, these usually are a bad idea and their place on the site is extremely limited. Guidelines for alternative stories are laid out below, and admins will again have final say on whether they are allowed on the site or not. *'7) Administrators have the final say': Official matters or settling arguments, an admin has the final say, having been elected as a representative for the community. **'7.1) Admins are not above the rules': Civility warnings and bans can still be issued to administrators by the will of the other administrators and bureaucrats. **'7.2) "Halo Fanon:" titled projects are used at the discretion of the admins' *'8) Be graceful': Be liberal in what you accept, be conservative in what you do. Try to accommodate other people's quirks the best you can, but try to be as polite, solid, and straightforward as possible yourself. Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) *'What is canon? What does NCF mean?' Canon is a term that is used in many fan communities to denote that factually happens in a universe. In the context of our site, Canon are any and all events that happened in licensed Halo material - be they games, books, visual media, etc - and are to be regarded as having absolutely happened in the universe. All fanon that is created on this site must abide by the rules of canon and not contradict it. *'What about humor articles?' Humor articles aren't commonly written on Halo Fanon, and are usually looked down on due to usually being poor quality. As such, they are usually frowned upon, but are not banned from the site. *'What about alternate universes/timelines?' Alternate universes or timelines are used in a very limited fashion on Halo Fanon. In some cases, if a work has gotten started prior to the release of new canon, it can be completed as an alternate timeline without acknowledging the new canon information - such as Halo 3: Ascension. Alternatively, a one-shot piece such as Halo: RED FLAG can be an alternate timeline, limiting itself to exploring a "what if?" scenario this one time. Rule of thumb: if it's just one story and marked as such, an alternate timeline isn't a bad thing. *'How do blogs work?' Previously considered useful only for personal opinion pieces, blogs are now one of the main forms of conversation on Halo Fanon! While Forums are still used for more official situations, blogs are great if you need to throw out ideas or figure out how things work. Canon Policy We here at Halo Fanon pride ourselves on our devotion to the official storyline, or "canon" of the Halo universe. All of the articles on this site must remain up to the standard set by canon; that is, they must fit in with officially-released media in a way that does not contradict or conflict with the previously-established universe. However, many users are confused as to what is considered actual canon, and what is considered embellishments on that storyline: what rules and events they must follow and what rules and events they can bend. That brings us to the existence of this page. It is here to clarify all of the questions and confusions you may have had about our site's policy and to help you better interact with the veteran users who already understand what is going on. While this was written predominantly for newcomers, it is also intended to be a resource for veterans who are unsure of a particular item's canonical status and wish to get clarification on the matter. With that being said, we hope that this will aid you in your quest to write newer and more creative fan fiction that fits in well with the scope of the Haloverse. Happy editing! Fundamentals So, with over a decade of content and two different content overseers, there is a lot out there to sort through and figure out when it comes to canon. The basic rule? Anything made by Bungie and 343i is canon. However, there are a few finer points that need better definition. Foremost among these are the precedence of one canon source above the other-- is Legends on the same level as Halo: Combat Evolved?, etc.-- and this is what this section is devoted to. Below is the policy that Bungie outlined here. In short, Joseph Staten said that "Everything that Bungie has ever approved is canonical. But even then, certain things trump others. In order of canonical influence: The games rank first, published materials (books, comics, soundtrack liner notes etc.) rank second, marketing and PR materials third," and that "the more recent items trump the older ones. So, for example, if some aspect of Halo 3's fiction contradicted Halo 2's, Halo 3's would be the gold standard." With the site-wide integration of 343i canon in 2015, the Administration has updated this canon hierarchy: ;Just remember these guidelines: # New canon overrides old canon... usually. ― If the new canon is unreasonably implausible, the old canon would retain its position as a better material. For example, the attack ranges of weapons presented by the Halo Encyclopedia follows the gameplay elements from the Halo games. Therefore, the older canon remains superior. In the Encyclopedia, it is said that the MA5B had a massive inaccuracy problem, but as we all know, that is simply a part of gameplay equalization. The novels have proved that the MA5-series assault rifles are very effective and had decent accuracy. # Ambiguity is common in the Halo Universe and is categorized as "loopholes". ― This means that unless definite canon is given, this loophole can be exploited. Such an instance is the tinkering with number of surviving SPARTAN-IIs, a number which has not been expressly stated by Bungie. A great example of an article that exploits a loophole is SPARTAN-091, an article written by a former member of the Administration in which the SPARTAN is officially (and falsely) listed as Killed in Action by the Office of Naval Intelligence so that he is not present at the fall of Reach. # New products are of higher canon than previous products. ― Any retroactive continuity introduced by Bungie will immediately take into effect. Such an instance is the first sighting of the Sangheili, which was originally said to be in 2552 (Fall of Reach) but was later changed to 2535 (Cole Protocol), and lastly to at least 2525 (Halo Wars). Any retroactive continuity introduced by others should be taken into consideration by using the logic/reality test. # Review the product in question and dissect every detail. ― Categorize those details and then determine their canonical or non-canonical status: Are they in conflict with another product? Do they defy the laws of realism? Or do they fit in well with the established universe? What Is Not-Canon Friendly? You'll see this term get thrown around a lot on the site. Generally, Not-Canon Friendly - or NCF - refers to the article in question having an issue that contradicts the established canon of Halo or something similar. Here are some possible reasons and examples of NCF. *'Does My Article Contradict Canon?' - That is to say, does your article contain any events, organizations and characters that could not exist properly in-universe? Examples of such things would be a SPARTAN-II that was born after 2512, the revelation that Master Chief is secretly a girl with a voice modulator, or a vast alien empire that the UNSC encountered before the Covenant. All of these concepts contradict previously-established canon elements, thus making them NCF. *'Is My Article God-Modded?' - God-Modded. It refers to the cheat that many early videogames had that, when entered correctly, made the player invincible to all threats in the game, an immortal and indestructible warrior with unlimited ammunition and boundless energy. An article that is considered to be God-Modded (or GM) is one that seems incredibly over-powered. It may be realistic, but chances are that it is not, since everything in the known universe has some type of weakness. An example of a GM concept is a SPARTAN wearing a version of MJOLNIR that has rocket-launchers mounted on the shoulders, an impenetrable forcefield tied into its shield system, and an unlimited-power LASER attached to his gauntlet. *'Is My Article Realistic?' - Your article must adhere to the laws of physics and other plausible factors. The Halo universe is technically considered to be science fiction, not space fantasy. All science fiction concepts must be able to exist naturally or be proven by scientific discovery. For example, Humanity cannot build a planet-sized orbital station, as they lack the funds and technology; likewise, there's no reason to create a new, one-team Spartan program that's "the same but different" right after the war when the Spartan-IV's exist. *'Is My Article Properly Halo-Related?' - This may seem plainly obvious to most, but when writing an article on a website for Halo Fanfiction, one should make sure that it actually relates to the Halo universe. In the past, users have dedicated a great deal of writing to either the distant past or far future, with absolutely nothing relating to the Haloverse, making their work seem more akin to original fiction with Halo elements than actual Halo Fanon work. Ideally, most user's work should take place within acceptable boundaries of the known Haloverse. Due to the close proximity to our current time, Human conflicts prior to the Jovian Moons Campaign are highly discouraged. Similarly, users should be wary of going too far forward; anything beyond the mid-27th century (2650) tends to be a bit far in the opinion of most. The list of generally accepted eras includes: For all the variety of other possible forms of not-canon friendliness, check out this segment here. Of special note in the category of "what constitutes NCF?" are two particular examples: Halo Legends and Tier 0 species. *Despite heated debate in the past, the events of Halo Legends are canon in every sense. That said, the events depicted are shown to us in a very stylized, artistically-loose format that should not be taken as 100% canon visually. Cal-141 lived and died, but the seven feet of hair inside her helmet is a likely exaggeration. *Tier 0 species were previously allowed under very narrow limitations back in the days when their few canon descriptions placed them as "slightly above the Forerunners" in the minds of the site. However, with the advent of The Forerunner Saga novels, the technological prowess of both the Forerunners and their Tier 0 predecessors, the Precursors, have skyrocketed far higher than previously assumed. As such, Tier 0 species are outright banned for being overpowered in the context of any story. How to React to a Not-Canon Friendly Article When any user sees something they believe breaks canon, they should put a at the top of the page, and then explain what the breach is in that page's talk page. This allows the author the chance to both attempt to justify the article and fix the article, if the mistake is not justifiable and was due to lack of knowledge. Users should keep in mind that not everyone can know everything, and should make sure to offer constructive criticism rather than insulting. It is important to note that only administrators may remove an NCF template. The removal of this template by the author or other users is not allowed, and will only complicate matters. In order, things to do and keep in mind include: #Don't tag an article "lightly." If possible, explain the situation or problem and resolve it with the hassle of NCF tags. #You must post the written explanation prior to tagging the article, and it is highly recommended you personally inform the user that their article is under NCF review. #All comments on the talk pages must be useful, constructive and civil. #The NCF tag will not be removed until the situation is resolved, and only by an administrator. #An article can return from the namespace if it has been moved only if all issues are fixed. #Two (2) weeks are allotted to fix all NCF issues after they have been tagged and explained, after which it will be moved to namespace Exceptions to the Rule Sometimes, articles break the canon of media that was not released when the article was created. If this happens, authors should try to fix the problem: of note is that in some cases there are exceptions, such as large alternative universes (i.e. Halo 3: Ascension). Blocking Policy Administrators have the ability to stop a user from editing for any duration. However, sysops are only allowed to block users, or ban users, if an offense is made to disrupt the wiki. The following are actions a user might perform that could result in a temporary or permanent block: *Page-blanking articles for no justified reason *Replacing article content with illegitimate text or other material **Please be patient with new users. Some may not understand the sensitivity of others about others editing their articles. Assume good faith and let the user defend himself before placing a ban, or requesting a block. *Moving pages to inappropriate titles *Personal attacks, whether directly insulting another user or their work *Creating articles for the purpose of disruption, meaning articles that are irrelevant to Halo and having offensive content **Offensive content could be pornography, vulgarity, blatant insults to pages and/or users, or spamming. *Creating a sockpuppet account. **Sockpuppetry is the creation of an alternative account to make it look like another user. Sockpuppets can be created by vandals to evade blocks or legitimate users to create an extra facet of interest in the community. Due to extreme abuse by people in the past, sockpuppetry is explicitly forbidden on the site. ***The sole exceptions to sockpuppetry bans are accidental creations, maintenance bot accounts, or inability to recover a previous account. *Evading previous blocks with new account. *Offensive username, including but not limited to vulgarity, blatant insults to pages and/or users, or spamming. *Spamming of users or other sites *Plagiarism, both internal and external *Vandalism Please note that some users have not stumbled upon the page discussing this matter, and the first offense can be forgiven if the problem does not persist and the user apologizes or justifies his mistake. Please assume good faith. Users can change in intent, and minor offenses that are not directly defacing the website should not have indefinite blocks. Duration of Bans The regular 'three strikes' warnings applies to most situations such as uncivil behavior, trolling, etc. Admins may seek to issue a verbal, but non-recorded warning, to illustrate where a user is going wrong, rather than immediately start with a first offense. In circumstances where good faith cannot be assumed, such as an IP vandalizing a page, the ban will be immediately put to a year/permanent, based on whether its an IP, or a registered user. Unusual circumstances, such as sockpuppeting, attempts at harming the infrastructure of the website or racist behavior will result in immediate action by an admin, usually resulting in a long term ban, based on admin discretion. The regular, three strikes system, works as such *Pre-Offense Warning (potentially) *First Offense: Warning and/or 24 Hour Ban *Second Offense: 1 Day to 2 Week Ban (depending on severity) *Third Offense: 1 Month-to-Indefinite Ban (depending on severity) Halo Fanon's Manual of Style and How to Use It Although the Manual of Style (MoS) here on Halo Fanon isn't strictly enforced, we do maintain some loose guidelines to be used to establish consistency and order among articles whenever possible. #Please categorize articles and insert navigational templates appropriately. #Please do not insert a heading, such as Summary , if there is only a single heading within the article. Just don't put a heading until you feel the need to insert two, and then you may create two. #Whenever inserting pictures in "thumb" format, such as , be sure to add a caption like . #When referring to canonical items, persons or events, please use Template:Halopedia to link to them as such: , #Refrain from using slashes whenever possible. Instead, work the word "or" into the sentence, or figure out some other way of stating it. #Don't link to the current page. The only exception to this would be linking to a sub-heading, such as Halo Fanon:Rules#Manual of Style, but this is should be reserved for large articles (minimum 10k bytes) #Link once to other pages, typically at the first instance a link is needed. #Don't use conversational style in articles. Check grammar, remove internet slang, emojis, smileys and similar items. #Replies and discussion about articles go on the article's talk page, not the content page #Don't sign your edits, except on talk pages and forum pages Editing Because Halo Fanon is a wiki, most users are able to edit most articles. However, because this is not a place to store information that is already given elsewhere, as in a compilation or encyclopedia, and rather a collection of creative ideas of many authors, the original views of an individual's fanon universe should be held in respect. You should only edit another person's article if #You created another article under a similar or identical name and you want to "disambiguate" the pages. #You are categorizing the article, either by placing a template or adding the category. #You are correcting spelling, grammar or punctuation. ''British alternatives not included.'' #You are reverting vandalism. #You have permission from the original author to edit their page in any way. You should not #Add your own ideas to an article you did not create that does not have a free-edit template without the author's permission. #Take away some of the information the article, despite what you think about its flow and accuracy. #Make any deliberate attempts to deface the article or user. (This is also known as vandalism.) #Add a writer template to someone else's page, unless you are an administrator or site patroller. How do deal with another person editing your page #Assume good faith if another user edits your page. ##If you do not approve of the edit, simply revert the edit and state in the edit box the reason for the revert. #Don't try to use copyright law to forbid another user from editing your article. All content here is submitted under GFDL and Creative Commons, and by editing Halo Fanon, you agree to these redistribution and editing liberties. Because Wikia's servers are in Florida, all copyright laws that may regard this site in some way are Florida state law and United States national law. Don't submit the entirety of a copyrighted work here, because it may not qualify as fair use. Images Here are a few brief notes about images and files on this site. #It is strongly suggested that you ask the artist's permission to using their image prior to importing it. ##If the creator of an artwork states that their image is not to be distributed for any form of use, it is off-limits, period. If the creator asks it to be removed, it will be removed. #If an image is clearly plagiarized, you will be asked to find a replacement and the image will be deleted. #Artwork, concept works, screen shots and CGI screen shots from video games, movie screen shots, TV screen shots and other images in the public domain do not require above proposals, but sourcing these images is greatly appreciated. #Any existing imported images that are stumbled upon at any time should be edited into accordance with the above rules, if the source image can be located; if not, the image is best to be deleted. Plagiarism (and How Little We Tolerate It) Plagiarism is bad user conduct ― If it can be proved that your article is a direct or closely derived copy of the work of an external author, internet artist, another contributor to this site, etc., then the plagiarized pieces must be removed. The tagging person must have evidence that the article is plagiarized, or the tag will be summarily removed. In the event of discovering a work has been plagiarized, tag the article with , and post evidence on the talk page. Upon evaluation, administrators will decide whether it is indeed plagiarism, and delete the plagiarized work, or that the work has been mistakenly tagged, and remove the template. The user who perpetrated the plagiarism will be given a warning, scaling on severity of the plagiarism, and how many repeat offenses there have been. First cases usually receive only a verbal warning, but those who had repeatedly plagiarized work, and on a large scale, will begin receiving bans, ranging from 24 hours, to permanent in the most dire cases. #'Scope of Plagiarism' ― The scope of plagiarism can cover many areas. For example, the copying from other works of fiction, such as taking technology, stories, characters and similar things from a book, comic, film or TV series. Excellent example would be having a ship called a Star Destroyer, that looks like a Star Destroyer, is equipped like a Star Destroyer and is used like a Star Destroyer. That would be an obvious example of plagiarism. Another area would be the copying of other articles on Halo Fanon, such as taking a sentence, paragraph or indeed an entire article from another user and pasting it into your own article. This would be counted as plagiarism, even with several edits to the parts written. Why copy your fellow authors when wanting to write something original? In the area of taking artwork from other artists, while the copyright area is very tenuous, be sure to consult the artist before you use there artwork, if possible, especially those from Deviant Art. Never use or edit the artwork of fellow Halo Fanon contributors without gaining their permission first. Using artwork assets from other video games and halo is not considered plagiarism. #'...Inspired By' ― Many writers on here take inspiration from other works of fictions, especially characters, and it treads a fine line between plagiarism and homages to characters from other works of fiction. An example would be, a character paying homage to to have character based on 'Soap' MacTavish, from Call of Duty Modern Warfare. He might look the same, have similar personality quirks and even the same name, but his background, history and role differ. If he was brought up in Scotland, joined the ODSTs to stop an Insurrectionist called Zakahev from launching nukes at reach, then formed a special forces unit called Task Force 141 and go fighting his protege Makarov, that would be considered plagiarism. The same would apply to vehicles, weapons and planets that also pay homage. #'Wikipedia and Halopedia' ― When writing articles, some of it may overlap with canon, or with wikipedia. In these instances, it may feel applicable to copy and paste a small amount of data and edit it to your needs; however, as with any good writing, a source's information should be rewritten not copied. Huge amounts of text ripped from other sources are frowned upon as this is plagiarism. #'Article Formatting' ― Many newer users use the formatting of older articles to get a foot in the door. When this appears to occur, assume good faith. As a user copying a articles format, be sure to tell the article's writer, and be sure to delete every piece of his writing from it. A Note on Constructive Criticism The criticism and discussion of articles has been a point of contention on the site in the past, so here's a few brief notes to keep in mind when you begin pointing out an article's flaws. #If you are tagging an article with a template such as Template:NCF, you must constructively point out why it has been tagged and recommend how to improve the article. Do your best to actively provide working solutions to the article's problems. #Each point of criticism must be courteous, appropriate, and concise. Rudeness, "trolling," and derailing of topic will result in removal of comment and tag template. Depending on the severity of the infraction, civility warnings may be issued. Note that "flaming" is a bannable offense according to the blocking policy. #Encouraging users to stop writing, delete their work or leave the site is not an acceptable form of criticism. As an absolute last resort, it is acceptable to kindly suggest a writer leave the site if they refuse to abide by the site's rules. #As a final note, "dogpiling" articles is strongly discouraged. It is best for one person to clearly explain the problems with an article, as too many users at the same time can become confusing and seem overbearing or overwhelming. #Lastly, as an aside, please do not feed the trolls. Do not encourage users who write or act in clearly "trollish" ways. This means that listing the exploits of trolls, making dramatic mockeries of them, and similar actions are all highly frowned upon. Lastly, as an aside, please do not feed the trolls. This means that listing the exploits of trolls, making dramatic mockeries of them, and similar actions are all highly frowned upon.